Best of the Best - our website

A selection of some of the best writers from our online Clubhouse, discussing hot topics such as casual misogyny, diversity, bravery, gender bias and more.

Best of the Best - brave content from our website

Showcasing some of our best online writers

Three things Gareth Southgate is teaching us about leadership

Steve Radcliffe applies his Future-Engage-Deliver model to the England Manager's approach to the team

Three things Gareth Southgate is teaching us about leadership

Gareth Southgate has done tremendously well as the manager of the England football team who have achieved way beyond expectations at the World Cup Finals. Many are putting much of this overachievement down to the impact of Gareth’s leadership. In his own quiet way, Gareth has been sending us some powerful messages about leading. Here are my top three that might help you grow even faster as a leader.
We can all grow as leaders. It just takes practice.

I first met Gareth five years ago when I was running a leadership programme for budding football managers at St George’s Park, the new centre of English Football Excellence. At that time, he was an up-and-coming manager and it wasn’t at all obvious that here was a future leader of the country’s football team. But it’s now clear that he has applied himself diligently to learning about leadership and as a result he’s grown significantly. This is something we can all do.

Pause here and notice: how strongly have you applied yourself to growing yourself as a leader? How clear are you on what you’re practising?
You don’t have to be extrovert or big and loud to be an effective leader.

I was interviewed about Gareth the other day and was asked whether coming across as ‘a nice guy’ was a plus or a negative. I replied that in the last 25 years, I’ve coached hundreds of leaders in all walks of life and can state categorically that becoming a successful leader does not depend on you having a certain kind of personality. Nor does it rely on a high level of intelligence or you having to have people reporting to you. Don’t let any thoughts of not being the right sort of person to lead hold you back from stepping forward as a leader. Rather, do what Gareth has done so well which is focus on building and flexing the three essential Leadership Muscles.

Leading is not about about personality; it’s about using your Leadership Muscles to get three jobs done.

"Leading is not about about personality; it’s about using your Leadership Muscles to get three jobs done."

Steve Radcliffe

You have these muscles but may not be using them as best you can. I call them Future - Engage - Deliver. This is how Gareth has used his to great effect.

When you’re in your leader mode, your thinking always starts in the future. You’re in touch with the future you most want and that picture energises you. You’re not held back by where you currently are. Gareth has been clear and strong on this. He wants certain kinds of player and team behaviours both on and off the field and he’s unambiguous about this.

How clear and energised are you about the future you want to create?

But it’s not enough just to have ideas about the future you want. You must also interact with others so that they are willing to come with you and help build that future.
I call this being engaging and this is different to telling or talking at people! This is something a lot of football managers and others in leadership positions just don’t get. In contrast, Gareth has been outstanding here. He’s built relationships with each player; he’s talked but he’s listened too; he has each player feeling valued whether they play in the matches or not; this in turn has helped the players engage in and support each other; and the result is that this is the most relaxed and close group of English players anyone has seen at a World Cup.

But Gareth has not stopped here. He’s then helped his players deliver.
At the core of helping others deliver is the leader helping draw the best from each player and helping that best become even better. As any fan of football will tell you, this has not always happened for the England team. For decades, we have seen highly skilled players become nervous and fearful when they’ve pulled on the England shirt. Many have been aware of this and talked openly about it but have still been powerless to get back into being at their best. That is, until Gareth came along. He’s helped them take that relaxed air onto the pitch to help them play some of the finest football we’ve seen from the national team for ages. One player, Dele Alli, talks about being ‘excited not nervous’.

"For decades, we have seen highly skilled players become nervous and fearful when they’ve pulled on the England shirt."

Steve Radcliffe

How much is getting the best from others a front of mind activity for you?

So that’s what he’s done. He’s grown and flexed those essential Leadership Muscles, Future - Engage - Deliver. Leadership is no more complicated than that.

What do you notice about your Future, Engage and Deliver muscles and how might you grow them to help you and colleagues exceed all expectations?

You can tell I have a passion to help people grow as leaders. If you think this article might help your friends and colleagues, please share it.

Steve Radcliffe is one of Europe’s top leadership experts. For the last 25 years, he and colleagues in Steve Radcliffe Associates have worked in all continents, partnering with over fifty CEO’s of global businesses like Unilever, GKN and Alliance Boots, major organisations in the fields of education, health and charities, and heads of the British Civil Service and other government departments. Organisation-wide programmes have focussed on developing leaders, engaging staff or shifting culture all in the name of improving performance.

Steve is most well known for his powerful leadership development approach, Future – Engage – Deliver, that The London Times describes as “the no-nonsense approach ... shaking up the world of leadership”. He has captured his approach in the UK’s number one leadership book, Leadership Plain and Simple. For five years, it has been the number one book in the more than 80,000 offered in a search for ‘leadership’ on Amazon UK. You can download the first two chapters here.

For more information on Future Engage Deliver, head here. For more information on Steve, go here. You can follow FED on Twitter for regular leadership nudges here.

Harry Potter: guide to better ways of working for women

Sue Unerman on how Hermione Granger is a good feminist role model - when applied to the modern workplace

Harry Potter guide: Better ways to work for women

Mediacom's Sue Unerman looks at why Hermione Granger is a good example for women to follow when it comes to the modern workplace.

1. Don’t do everything

J.K. Rowling has been responsible for a generation of children learning to love literature. In 2013 she was named a national literacy hero by the National Literacy Trust. In her books and her films she defined femininity for a generation of girls who are now grown up.

Her heroine Hermione Grainger is cleverer than the boys. She is also so hard-working that she leaps at the magic technology of the Time Turner which allows her to go to two different classes simultaneously. This seems very similar to the trope that working women hear about needing to work twice as hard as any man in order to succeed. As I wrote in The Glass Wall: “existing material tends to advise women that to get on they need to work harder, be more ‘superwoman’…. This is more of what they have been doing. Meanwhile men are getting further and doing less.” Don’t do everything, work smarter not harder.

2. Don’t shape shift

“The veela had started to dance, and Harry’s mind had gone completely and blissfully blank. All that mattered in the world was that he kept watching the veela, because if they stopped dancing, terrible things would happen… .
And as the veela danced faster and faster, wild, half-formed thoughts started chasing through Harry’s dazed mind. He wanted to do something very impressive, right now. Jumping from the box into
the stadium seemed a good idea…”Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Another example of femininity in Harry Potter are the Veela. Veela are a race of semi-magical beings who are able to seduce men and boys at will. For those interested they seem to be based on Slavic folklaw. They’re shape-shifters. Capable of charming men with their dance and their beauty, if they get annoyed they can kill with a glance. Whilst they appear to be beautiful if they’re angry they change into harpies, vicious and ugly and terrifying. Shape-shifting is something many women at work often feel obliged to do. They must maintain the appearance of beauty whilst getting everything done.

"Shape-shifting is something many women at work often feel obliged to do. They must maintain the appearance of beauty whilst getting everything done."

Sue Unerman

It takes a huge amount of effort. Effort spent on making sure that they look good and are approved of in every situation at the same time as working hard on the project in hand. Going out of their way to complete tasks perfectly at the same time as looking flawless. Smiling charmingly through whatever stress they’re under.

As Kimberley Harrington wrote in her satirical article for The New Yorker:

“I have two kids and the unspoken pressure to act like they don’t exist when I’m on a conference call.”

“I have male colleagues who tell me I’m not aggressive enough and that I will never get what I want out of my team and female colleagues who tell me I’m too aggressive and that I make them sad.”

“I have the confidence to speak my mind, asking hard-hitting questions about the project I’m working on, and the ability to keep my ears from bleeding when a roomful of male clients explains to me what I don’t understand about the female target audience.”

Is it too much effort to seek perfection and approval in every instance? Of course it is. The bar is set too high, the need for perfection is unrealistic. We need to make it clear to women at work that shape shifting isn’t a requirement.

International Women's Day 2018

Brilliant women in our network told us what inspires them and what advice they'd give to young women today

International Women's Day 2018

To celebrate International Women's Day we asked some of the brilliant women in our network for their thoughts on two questions:

Which women they most admire and why? (They can be alive or dead.)

What advice would they give to young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?

Here's what they had to say, starting with our very own chief executive, Gemma.

Yes, they are all mightily impressive, but that’s not the reason; they are not afraid to be themselves, they embrace who they are and so are the best versions of themselves, and that takes courage and humility. They are also all up to something (to use my favourite leadership guru Steve Radcliffe’s phrase) they have a bigger plan in play, they want to make a difference and have a big impact. And they do and they will.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Be yourself. Figure out what you really care about and live and breathe those values every day. Bring your whole self to work, it’s only when you are yourself you build trust, and through trust you build big relationships. And your support network is invaluable, it will give meaning to life, make things more fun and no doubt a powerful network will give you the competitive edge. And be brave, it’s only when you reach for the stars you'll achieve greatness.

"Be yourself. Figure out what you really care about and live and breathe those values every day."

Gemma Greaves

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
I think it’s more useful to talk about the qualities I admire, optimism, bravery, humility, kindness. If you look across my close women friends, you’ll see they are a diverse bunch but they have these things in common. And I am truly blessed.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Don’t listen to the voices in your head! They are usually more critical than accurate. Learn from doing increasingly brave things and know that it is by doing, rather than by worrying, that you will grow beyond your wildest dreams.

Mitch Oliver, VP marketing, Mars @mitchyov

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
Deborah Frances-White (creator and presenter of The Guilty Feminist amongst other things)

She is a wonderful example of being bold and brave. She shows that women can be funny AND demanding AND emotional AND intelligent – and that there is power in us all.

She supports all women and goes out of her way to give a voice to those who are not heard of or listened to. She is my inspiration and her podcasts have brought laughter and tears to my long dog walks. #girlcrush

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Be visible: Do the speech, lead the presentation, go on the panel.

Be demanding: Ask for the pay rise, for flexible hours, for equal pay.

Be supportive: Support other women and all those whose voices aren't heard enough.

Be demanding: Ask for the pay rise, for flexible hours, for equal pay.

Mitch Oliver

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Tash Whitmey, loyalty and membership director, Tesco @TashWhitmey

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
Emmeline Pankhurst – for her courage, conviction and perseverance and because we all owe her a debt of gratitude. I think this quote sums up why - because she shaped the idea of women for our time, she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Map yourself a path and understand your values and your goals. Then take a look around and understand your context. Within that context, be clear what is important to you, then see if what is important to you is available or even possible, if not ask for it, and be sure that you are asking in a way that is clear and understood. And then if it doesn’t happen, either make your mind up to change it or look elsewhere, because where you are is not good enough and there are places that are. Never be afraid to ask, if you don’t ask, it may well not happen.

I have two quotes that I love:
Strong women, you are not intimidating, they are intimidated by you, there is a difference. I’ve adapted this slightly but I love it because it reframes and rebalances who is intimidated by strong women.

Do more of what you love – because I genuinely believe that if you are doing what you love, you stand a better chance of being good at it.

Aedamar Howlett, marketing director at Coca-Cola GB&I

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
For me, Mary Robinson epitomises the values of International Women’s Day. Bright, unafraid and compassionate, she started her career as a barrister and campaigner, before becoming the first female president of Ireland. She resigned the presidency two months early to take up her post in the United Nations, which shows her unwavering commitment to the causes she believed in.

Not only did she break down gender barriers – she transformed political attitudes too. Robinson breathed new life into a conservative, low-profile political office, and wasn’t afraid to stand up for what she believed in. On a day when we’re reflecting on the social, cultural and political achievements of women, I can’t think of anyone who has done more to advance our cause – and to have done so with such grace.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
It’s okay to be out of your comfort zone. All too often we fool ourselves into thinking that success comes with being on top of everything, but the real lessons are learned when you’re under pressure, when you make mistakes, and when you’re forced to prioritise and focus only on the game changers on your to do list. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have worked with so many talented teams and to have worked for myself, and both come with their challenges.

But facing those challenges head on, pushing yourself to learn and innovate, and being unafraid of the unknown, is what will truly set you apart from the rest.

Kat Gordon, founder and CEO of The 3% Movement @katgordon

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
Gloria Steinem. She was an embodiment of intersectional feminism before that was even a thing. I got to meet her last year, and in her early 80's she's as fierce and sharp as ever.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Become an amazing presenter of your own thoughts and work. If you are shy (as I was), take a public speaking class and get over the fear. It is imperative you can campaign and defend your own ideas. Never let someone else on your team attempt to do this -- it's your responsibility and opportunity to stand up for what's yours.

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
Elizabeth 1st, a queen who led men when women were not expected to, and brought peace in an age when enmities based on religious differences was the order of the day.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Don’t be naive - understand that gender discrimination is a real issue. Even if you don’t think it happens to you, it will be happening around you. Be ready to speak up for others as well as yourself.

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Lisa Gilbert, CMO IBM UK & Ireland @lisanlondon

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
Michelle Obama: She exudes confidence without being unapproachable; she feels genuine, what you see is what you get; the grace in which she holds herself is worthy of that of a royal, ok, many royals.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Get comfortable being uncomfortable. As my CEO Ginni Rometty always says, "Growth and comfort don't co-exist".

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
I admire any woman who blazes a trail for herself - who makes things happen, who fights for good, and who supports and celebrates other women. And there are so many to mention - here are just some of the wonder women in my working world (in no particular order): Ali Hanan of Creative Equals, Pip Jamieson of The Dots, Casey Bird of The Freelance Circle, Deanna Rodger of I Did It Too, Katherine Wildman of Haydn Grey, Sue Turner of Turner Ink, Rachel Gott of Who's Your Momma, Fabiana Xavier of SheSays, Jody Orsborn of The Backscratchers, Tess Alps and Lindsey Clay of Thinkbox, Ade Onilude of Women in Marketing, Roshni Goyate and Leyya Sattar of The Other Box, Jo Wallace of JWT.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Be strong, be confident, be interested and be interesting. Do what makes you happy. Do what you believe in. Work hard and work smart and you'll be a success. To quote Estee Lauder, "I never dreamed of success. I worked for it."

Manjiry Tamhane, global CEO, Gain Theory

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
I greatly admire Edwina Dunn, the co-founder of Dunnhumby. Edwina is a pioneer in the data science realm and an iconic female entrepreneur. As the co-founder of worldwide loyalty programmes like Tesco’s Clubcard, Edwina knows first-hand what it feels like to work in a male- dominated industry and how women’s lack of confidence holds them back.

She also founded the Female Lead, an initiative that I am involved in, which is dedicated to making women’s stories more visible and offering alternative role models to those ever-present in popular culture.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Firstly, shy bears get no honey. If you don’t ask, then you won’t get and realizing that 'no' is the worst response you’ll ever get will give you the confidence to at least ask.

Secondly, always treat others as you’d like to be treated. Finally, don’t let anyone tell you what you can or cannot be in life!

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
Mother Teresa. In the face of adversity and the worst of circumstance, she endured by her unwavering determination.

She started out on her own feeding a group of the poor in India. At the time of her death, the Missionaries of Charity were operating 610 missions in 123 countries. These included hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's- and family-counselling programmes, orphanages and schools.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
I would say as well, as never putting anyone beneath you, never hold anyone higher either. Believe in yourself and stay determined to climb.

Katie Ewer, strategy director, JKR Singapore @katieewer

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
My grandmother. She was a zoologist who specialised in studying cheetahs and did some groundbreaking research in South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s. Her book is still used as part of the academic curriculum at universities. Most importantly, she gave zero fucks. She had short hair, wore trousers and safari boots in an age where women were expected to wear petticoats and corsets, and she smoked a pipe. Oh, and she kept a family of meerkats in the house.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
1. Sometimes the last person you believe in at work is yourself, so start with self confidence.
2. Try, fail, try again, fail better. Mistakes are the best lesson you’ll have, so embrace them.
3. Don’t feel you have to be nice. Sometimes it's okay to be a nasty woman. Marketing isn’t a Miss World interview.

Sometimes it's okay to be a nasty woman. Marketing isn’t a Miss World interview.

Katie Ewer

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
Dead: Emiline Pankhurst. Alive: Every women who believes equality for women and does what she can - the little things, or the big things - to make that equality a reality.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Be you, carve your own way. Don't feel you need to emulate men and the way men succeed. Do it your way. It will a lot better for it.

Claire Koryczan, managing partner, DECODED

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
My Nan; Alice Koryczan.

Strong, fiercely independent and loyal. A passionate feminist who was a land army girl in her teens during the war, married twice (which was completely frowned upon in those days), yet stood up for what she believed in, battled with breast cancer and won!

My nan is 92 this year. I admire her strength so much.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Believe that anything is possible! Be bold. Be brave. Feel the fear and do it anyway. This is truly when magic happens in life. Most importantly, be you.

Elle Graham-Dixon, group planning director, BBDO New York @elle_sis

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
I admire every woman who is doing something big or small; every woman who has spoken out, every woman who has endured sexual harassment, every woman who refuses to accept second-class treatment, every woman who understands her own privilege, every woman who brings every woman with her, every woman who brings men with her too and every woman who believes that this moment will change everything for every woman.

This is a really exciting time in feminism’s history. #MeToo has been a long time coming, and it’s different from other defining feminist moments because of the critical mass of women behind it. #MeToo is global, inclusive and democratic – it has its heroes but it is not about them. So I had to cheat at this question and say that I admire every woman who is turning up to our revolution right now, however, they choose to participate.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
When selecting job opportunities make sure you know what you’re dealing with. Look at the balance of their leadership team, look at the gender pay gap they publish this April, and read their maternity policy even if this isn’t remotely on your agenda – it’s a great indication of broader equality attitudes. If you can, choose a company which has published a zero-tolerance sexual harassment statement too.

Within a company identify mentors and turn them into your champions – it’s flattering to be asked to give advice or mentor someone so be brave and ask - people are likely to say yes.

When it comes to pay, understand how the business makes money and the role you play so you can have a conversation with neutral facts. Also remember that you can help your boss to help you - giving pay rises should feel good and this is partly in your control – don’t assume that you have to fight.

Promote yourself by doing part of the job above yours or the job you want. If you think that would be treading on toes, then make out like it’s educational ‘if I had a go at turning this research into the brief or writing the report from this data, would you look at it – I just want to understand the process better.’ You may not be able to do their job better than them, but if you do it faster, it makes more sense for them to work with it than to start from scratch.

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
I have 3 women who have inspired me in different ways throughout my 20s (I've just hit my 30s). Alexa Chung, as she inspired me to feel it's OK to have a 'little boy body' as she calls it, and style it well. Emma Sexton for her business mind and drive to be totally bad ass, which clearly flows into her Bad Ass Woman's Hour podcast.

And lastly Ellen Degeneres, she uses her fame to really empower women and help amazing causes especially the LGBTQ community.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
1. Know your worth. Then exceed it.

Emily Horswell, strategist at eatbigfish @Horseywell

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
Mine would have to be my Mum - Tessa, or T-Bear as she’s known to us. I admire her attitude to daunting opportunities. Her disposition to say ‘yes’, and tendency to jump in first, has a magnificent domino effect on everybody around her. Life is more entertaining when she’s there and I feel incredibly lucky to have enjoyed so many adventures on which she has led the charge. We could all do with being a bit more like T-Bear.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Our industry is full of smart, engaging people. Seek out those who you think are wonderful and wangle your way into working with them. I’ve always been happiest and done my best work when I’ve been learning from somebody brilliant. You might not be able to choose a boss, but that shouldn’t hold you back from building rapport with people outside of your team. Those people are the ones who you will learn the most from, enjoy working with (even when times are tough) and ultimately they will enable you to thrive.

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
I am overwhelmed by Emma Gonzalez, the Latin American/Cuban, bi-sexual, 18-year-old turned anti-gun advocate for the worst of all possible reasons: in mourning of her dead friends. She is a wonder to ​​​​​​​listen to, an inspiration to all and proof that if you dare to seize the moment anything is possible.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Don’t settle. Just because something is, it doesn’t mean it has to remain. You have more power than you think, dare to use it and craft the life you want and deserve.

​​​​​​​Debs Gerrard, freelance creative director @debsgerrard

Which woman do you most admire and why? (They could be alive or dead.)
Someone that’s recently inspired me is Elina Berglund. She was originally a particle physicist and discoverer of the Higgs Boson, who then left her job to co-found and develop Natural Cycles - the world’s first government-approved contraceptive app.

The first innovation in this space in 60 years, it replaces medication with technology and in turn is liberating and empowering women globally.

What advice would you give young women today on thriving at work in the marketing industry?
Think laterally.
Do things that make the world a better place for women.
Strive to be a Changemaker every day.

Who wants to be a millennial? Me.

By Elle Graham-Dixon, BBDO New York

Who wants to be a millennial? Me.

By Elle Graham-Dixon

Perhaps I’ve got a bad case of confirmation bias, but recently I’ve noticed ‘the problem with millennials’ coming up more frequently in conversation. It goes something like this: ‘Millennials are entitled; they want more from businesses and they want to give less in return.’ Unfortunately, the most common defence is pretty derogatory too: ‘Well, they are only entitled because they have to steal, beg and borrow from their working lives to compensate for their impoverished personal lives…’ Oh, and apparently they also have lower self-esteem as a result of being repeatedly told they can do anything, which causes them to over assert themselves too. Ouch.

If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard these millennial stereotypes, I’d be richer than most millennials ever will be. *Clink* there goes another one.

It’s worth noting that, somewhat ironically, many of the complainants are millennials or close in age themselves. This demographic extends up to thirty-five year olds – just enough to encompass the average thirty-four years old of IPA advertising agency employees (according to 2016 census data). This fact alone should be enough of a wake-up call to stop throwing this negative stereotype at quite so much of our workforce.

Let me clear something up. I am a millennial. And, yes – I suppose I do expect more from my workplace than my parents did from theirs. I want a better work-life balance, I want the option to work flexibly, and I want to be able to juggle work commitments with other elements of personal life. But crucially, I don’t just want this for me, I want this for everyone. Because I fully believe that these things will make our industry better.

There is a key point that millennial stereotyping fails to recognize. A lot of the socially responsible work that agencies are currently talking about would actually be accelerated should these ‘demands’ actually be met. They offer the answer to the very real and increasingly urgent question of how to attract and retain more diverse talent. Hard work will always be important, but to equate hard work with good work is a gross oversimplification.

Advertising has changed. Our retainers are getting smaller and a lot of our skill sets will soon be automated. In this climate more than ever, we have to recognise that we are not in the business of billing time. We are in the business of selling ideas. And we are going to have to monetise those ideas differently to compete with consultants and new creative businesses alike. This will mean believing in the talent we’ve invested in, and empowering them to trust their instincts.

So yes, maybe we do want to work fewer hours and achieve just as much. But that is the definition of an improved ROI. Countless studies show that when people put pressure on themselves to complete a task within fewer working hours, they do it better. Less time literally makes people work more productively. And yes, maybe we do want to work more flexibly, but that will definitely lead to better work. Truly great ideas are drawn from different sources and experiences, and office interiors aren’t that inspiring (even ones with bean bags and ping pong tables).

We need to stop talking so much about diversity and start including people from different backgrounds and situations. If we don’t allow these people to make work work for them, we will continue to limit the cultural pool from which we draw ideas. In doing so, we also limit our relevance with all of these groups. But getting people through the door isn’t enough. We have to support them to keep one foot in their personal lives so that they can bring real insights back into the office with them. We should also be offering this support simply because it’s the right thing to do.

So call millennials lazy, but frankly it’s a lazy stereotype.

Elle Graham-Dixon

So call millennials lazy, but frankly it’s a lazy stereotype. Call them entitled, but how much of your own baggage is being brought to the table here? Presentism and a tough culture of hours was part and parcel of a career in advertising for Generation X (and actually, a lot of us older millennials who love to complain so much about ourselves). Things need to change for the better now, and ‘it’s not fair’ or ‘I did my time’ aren’t the strongest arguments against progress.

Ultimately, the things that we are all trying to improve right now will be driven by the very same agendas that millennials are asking for. Let’s assume, for a change, that millennials want to be empowered to be the drivers of change themselves, for themselves, and for everyone else too.

This piece was by Elle Graham-Dixon of BBDO New York. Follow her @elle_sis?

Do you agree with the 'millennials' stereotype?

Yes

No

Sometimes

Casual misogyny: the workplace sexism which led to #metoo

By Adriana Rizzo, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Casual misogyny: the wordplace sexism which led to #metoo

Adriana Rizzo explores the two questions we should be asking every day to promote gender equality

It’s the #MeToo and #TimesUp era and it feels empowering and like “it’s about damn time.” It also feels relentless; the headlines are salacious and grotesque, and seeming to come at us ever faster. Like a snowball rolling downhill.

And now almost four months since the first article about Harvey Weinstein, many are worrying that this snowball will destroy everything in its path without nuance or discrimination. You see it, for example, in the handwringing about Aziz Ansari - SNL weighed in with a sketch about an extremely awkward dinner conversation, The New York Times has published articles pro and against his actions, and Samantha Bee weighed in with a funny and opinionated rant, to name just a few of the reactions. I think all of this is ultimately good (though Ansari may not agree). The conversation should be nuanced and actions should not be evaluated in a binary fashion.

But I’m worried about something else that is not being discussed nearly as much. I’m worried that the snowball will steer off-course, stop with a thud and just sit there until it melts and disappears.

The focus first on accusations and now on calibration, threatens to leave something critical un-discussed. If this is going to be more than a hash tag and a dress code at awards shows; if it’s going to result in lasting change that will protect all women, rather than just something that damaged the careers of a few men, we’re going to have to dig deeper. We’re going to have to confront the causal misogyny that permeates so many of our work places.

Casual misogyny that is hardly, if ever, noticed because it is so ingrained that is practiced by both men and women. It does not rise to the level of harassment but creates the environment that allows harassment to exist.

And once you start paying attention, you see it everywhere.

It’s on display when two people with similar experience are hired for similar roles at the same time and compensation comes back with a lower salary for the woman, with no rationale for why that is the case.

It’s on display when two colleagues with the same title and similar responsibilities and tenure are assigned offices, and the man gets the bigger one. And when a new department head is hired and she is given an office smaller than the one used by a male direct report.

It’s on display when a male boss calls a direct report the “country club girl” – a comment on the products she works on, sure. A comment also on where she stands in the pecking order: none of the men are ever called “boys” nor are their assignments classified so dismissively.

Misogyny is on display when a male boss calls a direct report the “country club girl” – a comment on the products she works on, sure.

Adriana Rizzo

It’s on display when the female head of the business unit gives all the credit for a new pricing initiative to the man on the team, even though it was clearly a team effort. The other team members are all women.

The examples above, all real, show a continuum of misogyny that starts when a woman first gets hired and continues throughout her career, in how she is positioned in a company to how success is attributed.

So, what to do?

It is very difficult to change habits and entrenched modes of thinking, and I am not proposing that we go on constant alert (this never works anyway, as people revert back to their natural behavior and tendencies pretty quickly).

But I think that there’s a simple way to start making a dent.

When making an important decision or determining how to attribute success imagine that all the people involved are the same gender.

Would you still make the same decision? Or would you dig deeper to ensure that you had more facts?

I think that the answer to these two simple questions can bring to light and help change some of the underlying behaviours that made the #MeToo movement necessary. If nothing else, it will make us all a bit more thoughtful.

Have you witnessed misogyny in the workplace?

Frequently

Occasionally

I'm not sure

Never

Shut the f--k up, lady. Old is ok.

Havas UK's Tracey Barber on age discrimination

Shut the f**k up, lady. Old is ok.

From a business point of view, we are an asset, writes Havas' CMO Tracey Barber

A brilliant (and under 30) member of my team has just had a birthday and sent me a funny message telling me how she was celebrating: ‘Heads up: you probably won't get much sense out of me Monday. I am going to be in Estonia this weekend watching Iron Maiden on the opening night of their world tour and - what's the phrase? - f***** on cheap, strong Estonian beer. If I don't come back, it's been a pleasure.’

My first, rather irritating, thought was ‘Crikey, I couldn’t do that anymore. Better not let on - don’t want to appear old!’

My second thought was shut the f*** up, lady. Because old is okay. We should be embracing change, accepting of who we are and rejoicing in what being 50 actually delivers. Not just personally - I am definitely more relaxed, and surer of what I want - but professionally, for each and every business.

We’ve lived more - so we actually know more stuff; proper stuff about balancing priorities and what works and what doesn’t.

About how to create teams and how to get the best out of people. And how laziness or complacency or “good enough” simply…isn’t. We’ve failed more - and hopefully learned from those mistakes.

But most importantly, we are actually more confident, more focused and more decisive. Much more able to discern what will have the greatest impact and what is simply unnecessary fiddling around the edges.

And, actually, really excited by what can be achieved and more to the point, how to achieve it.

(50yr olds) actually know more stuff; proper stuff about balancing priorities and what works and what doesn’t

Tracey Barber

We should be embracing diversity - of age, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Because each brings with it a combination of qualities and viewpoints which can only make our businesses better, broadening the talent pool and making us all think differently, try differently and create differently.

There’s a lot of noise at the moment around the gender pay gap and the diversity agenda. So there should be. There are some things which are simply wrong and need changing.

But there are also some really simple areas which can be remarkably liberating to embrace. And ‘coming out’ as fifty may just be one of them. Fifty-year-olds rarely have to do anything we don’t want to do. We are pretty much sorted. We can unapologetically focus on what excites us and what we know we’re good at.

So, from a business point of view, we are rather an asset: there because we want to be, and bloody good at what we do. Even if we can’t quite manage a weekend of beers in Estonia without needing a week-long recovery.

By Tracey Barber, Group CMO, Havas UK

It’s indifference, not alienation, that brands should be worried about

By Gen Kobayashi, Ogivy & Mather

It’s indifference, not alienation, that brands should be worried about

By Gen Kobayashi, head of strategy at O&M London

Anyone who’s worked in this industry for long enough will have become almost numb to jargon and cliché. From “owning” calendar days of the year,(“how do we OWN Pancake Day this year?”); to consumers “feeling lost” in a consumer journey due to “a lack of a clear call to action”.

But the most baffling cliché must be the notion that advertising has the ability to engage one set of consumers whilst simultaneously “alienating” another.

We’ve all heard it. “We want to modernise and appeal to a younger audience, but we don’t want to alienate our existing customers”. “We need to speak to dog owners but we can’t alienate cat owners!”.

“Alienation”.

The definition of alienation is ‘to make someone feel isolated’.

The feeling of isolation is an uncomfortable thought for anyone.

Advertising, at its best, builds distinctive memories of brands in people’s minds.

These memories may, if we’re lucky, translate into an unconscious response to choose your brand over someone else’s when it comes to a purchasing decision.

But should we be losing sleep over an advert “alienating” anyone? Does advertising really have the power to make someone feel isolated?

Last month saw the launch of Nike’s brilliant ‘Nothing Beats a Londoner’ campaign.

Hats off to the smart people at Nike and at W+K. It’s a beautifully written and brilliantly observed film written by very clever Londoners about Londoners for Londoners.

The campaign exploded in social channels on TV and has prompted conversations about the brand up and down the country. On the whole, the response has been positive. If friends and family who don’t work in the industry want to talk to you about an ad, it’s a good sign that it’s had an impact on culture.

But not all reactions to the Nike ad were positive.

There was some concern raised on social media that Nike could risk alienating people who live outside the M25.

But I suspect this won’t happen.

Most people living outside London who saw the ad, at best will warm to the brand and find it funny. At worst, the reaction will probably be one of indifference. A bit “meh” (scientific I know).

An ad tracking study on the Nike ad from Real Eyes was published earlier this week. It showed that it outperformed their benchmark average by 79% and because this study is UK-wide it suggests that the fears of alienation may not be something for Nike to worry about.

It’s unsurprising really. Just because creative work doesn’t precisely mirror a defined audience, it doesn’t mean it loses the power to emotionally connect with it.

How else would you explain 45% of Diet Coke drinkers being men? A brand famously built on being aimed at women? Or Hip Hop now being the most listened to music genre in the United States, overtaking rock for the first time last year (Nielsen Music 2017). Teenagers living in rural America can still emotionally connect with music born out of cities thousands of miles away.

I think the real challenge with the cliché that advertising can “alienate people” lies in the assumptions it makes about consumers.

"To feel ‘alienated’ you’re assuming consumers feel a sense of loyalty to you as a brand."

Gen Kobayashi

The reality is, as Andrew Ehrenberg said, “Your consumer is just someone else’s consumer who buys you occasionally”.

The truth is that consumers don’t think about your brand as much as you’d like them to.

Perhaps the most worrying statistic is that 90% of advertising goes unnoticed and a recent study by Ogilvy found that 77% of brands could disappear tomorrow and most wouldn’t be missed.

I’d argue that alienating people is the last thing advertisers and brands should be worried about. Instead, it’s consumer indifference that should be keeping us feeling the pressure.

At Ogilvy we aim to create socially relevant creative work. These are campaigns that have the ability to join or generate a conversation bigger than advertising and that’s exactly what the Nike Londoner ad does.

The Nike ad, whilst focusing on London, is really an ad about youth culture. It’s an ad written in the language of young people up and down the country. I don’t think it has the ability to ‘alienate’ anyone because the accent happens to be a London one. Just ask the teens we spoke to in Bury (Britain’s youngest town), located over 200 miles from London as part of our ‘Get Out There’ initiative.

This is true for any number of Ogilvy’s campaigns. We use Eric Cantona as the face of Kronenbourg. But he doesn’t alienate beer drinkers who don’t happen to support Man Utd or Leeds. I’m also sure our Christmas Boots ad doesn’t alienate people who don’t have a sister.

Let’s have faith in the power of empathy and in consumers engaging with meaningful stories, however far from their personal life experiences the creative work might be. After all how many of us have been hypnotized by white supremacists or fallen in love with a sea creature? Both of which are plotlines of films nominated for this year’s Oscars. As an industry let’s drop the clichés and stay focused on ensuring we’re creating work that makes a dent in culture and keep brands as socially relevant as they can be.

By Gen Kobayashi, head of strategy at O&M London

@mrkobayashi

Does brave marketing do
more harm than good?

By Dan Cullen-Shute, Creature London

Does brave marketing do more harm than good?

Dan Cullen-Shute's New Year plea is to 'stop trying to be brave'

Let me start with a confession: I don’t really understand what ‘bravery’ means when it comes to marketing.

And let me follow that confession up with a provocation: I don’t think anyone does.

And now a question: if you're an insightful enough marketer to spot that the world is a bit, well, ‘conflicty’ at the moment, and you reference that in your advertising, and then suggest that your brand might be the solution… Is that brave?

Well, it rather depends.

If you’re a soft drink, then no, that’s not brave at all.

Suggesting a celebrity with a can could calm the rampaging hordes isn’t just not brave, it’s crass.

It’s stupid. It’s deplorable. You should be ashamed. (And, by the way, you should definitely use an agency next time, because agencies NEVER make mistakes).

Oh, you’re a beer? Oh, that’s TOTALLY different. It probably is true that all the violently opposed people of the 21st century need is to pop the top off a cold one, and all will be right with the world. Top bravery. Have some awards. Be proud. Well done!

No. Sorry. I’m confused.

The truth is, I’ve always struggled with the idea of ‘bravery’ in marketing. I know it sounds glib, but bravery is a really, really big word. I’m not going to list them, but everyone reading this already knows what genuine bravery looks like, and it’s not deciding to forego Link testing to get straight into market.

In fact, I’d argue that when you introduce it into advermarcomms speak, it’s a piece of language that does more harm than good. ‘Brave’ work is work that’s harder to buy; it’s risky. ‘Now’s not the time to be brave’ becomes an excuse for buying work; for not buying GOOD work.

But what’s the alternative? Being safe? Safe’s not good. Safe is expected, and safe is boring, and safe doesn’t get noticed, and no advertising or marketing has ever achieved anything without getting noticed. Truth is, making ‘safe’ advertising is the riskiest thing you can possibly do. Way more risky than trying to make something brilliant and not quite getting there.

Truth is, making ‘safe’ advertising is the riskiest thing you can possibly do.

Dan Cullen-Shute

Because here’s the thing that really takes guts as a marketer: recognising that nobody’s listening.

Real people aren’t talking about your brand, they’re talking about Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, or the new growth Bordeaux, or #WengerOut, or how Tom Brady can possibly be better now than he was in 2012.

Making safe work doesn’t mitigate risks - it runs right into them. Quietly. And we shouldn’t see NOT doing that as ‘brave’.

We banned the word ‘brave’ in Creature a while ago - using it undermines our expertise. We’re good at this, and when we say ‘this would be the brave thing to do’, it says that we don’t really know, but fuck, it might be fun to try, mightn’t it? And that’s not what we do. We work harder than anyone else to understand our client’s brands and their audiences, so that, inasmuch as is humanly possible, when we present something good that the client wasn’t expecting, buying it isn’t a ‘brave’ move - it’s the only move.

So here’s my plea for 2018: let’s stop trying to be brave.

Let’s stop getting distracted by the idea of a higher cause. Let’s just all try to make stuff that’s fucking great. That’s noticed, and remarked upon, and that changes the way people think, or feel, or behave.

That maybe even changes people’s purchasing behaviour, or voting intention, or charitable giving.

Let’s give our turkeys to the ads that couldn’t be bothered to try, not to the ones that shot for the moon and landed in a puddle somewhere just south of Chichester. Ultimately, I’d rather be there than somewhere ‘safe’.

Dan Cullen-Shute, CEO and founder of Creature of London. Follow him @creature_dan

Mental health and freelance. Cure or catalyst?

In 2013 my full time job was taking a serious toll on my mental health. I had increased anxiety, sleepless nights and found myself unable to ‘switch off’.

It took 6 months of back and forth to build the courage to quit. I felt I needed to mentally check out a little, and headed into the freelance world to see how that would feel.

Over the past 5 years there has been a clear rise against the archaic work structure and with it a rise in personal well-being.

With that it seems obvious that freelancing is a very attractive option right now.

In fact there are an estimated 4.6 million freelancers in the UK today.

Many people opt to freelance for better mental health as it’s seen as a sign of ‘freedom’. However as a freelancer of nearly 4 years it’s important to understand that it’s not always #worklife Instagram pics from cute East London coffee shops.

Freelance can sometimes be even more debilitating for ones mental health.

If you’re thinking of heading into the freelance world to protect your mental health, have a quick read below and consider these points first:

Freelance can sometimes be even more debilitating for ones mental health.

Casey Bird

Set boundaries

It can be very common to over work as a freelancer – whether it’s the amount of hours in the day or the amount you work in the year.

Set yourself a limit. If you’re working at home make sure you take regular breaks, get some fresh air and eat lunch at the appropriate lunch time.

Routine

As a freelancer no two months are the same.

But when you have a week off, the temptation to lie in bed all day can be very high, especially if you are susceptible to depression.

Make sure you still get up early, shower, have breakfast and make the most of the days however that may be. Even if it just means going for a long walk at 9.30am.

Isolation

This can be a huge thing for freelancers and really triggers mental health worries.

If you’re a full-time remote worker consider joining a co-working space that helps motivate and keep you focused such as WeWork or Soho House. I also suggest joining freelance communities or meetups like The Freelance Circle.

Money worries

The financial instability of freelance can leave many biting their nails. Before you head into the freelance world make sure you have enough side pennies to get you through perhaps the first month when you’re finding your feet and establishing new contacts.

Freelance has been one of the best choices for me; at exactly the time I needed it. And if you’re considering heading towards freelance, I whole-heartedly welcome it.

Just be sure it’s the right solution for you, and not a quick escape tactic from a bad job or unhappy feelings.

Make sure you’re doing it because it suits your next career move and lifestyle, and not to simply try and solve your problem.

Biblical buzzfeed

Why the Ten Commandments are a good lesson for writing better briefs. By Ogilvy & Mather's Kevin Chesters.

Biblical buzzfeed

Why the Ten Commandments are a good lesson for writing better briefs. By Kevin Chesters.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about writing. And the skill of writing (and not just in a mild panic about writing this kind of thing). And especially the skill of brief writing for planners.

I’m a firm believer that equal with strategic smarts for any planner is the skill of writing well. After all, it is not just a brief for creatives it is a CREATIVE brief. If one cannot put one’s strategic point-of-view into a coherent, creative flow then I’ve found it is much harder to get anyone inspired to work on it. The converse is also true – the better written the argument, the more cogent it becomes.

I’ve been musing on this for the last few weeks and it occurs to me that if you wanted a blueprint for advice as to how to write well (especially briefs) then one could do a lot worse than to look at the Ten Commandments. OK, I’m sensing you think this is a bit tangential. But I think there is pretty concrete behavioural science to back me up. The Ten Commandments are a blueprint for all sorts of heuristics that beyond their spiritual significance would probably mean this set of ten life rules would probably stick in the mind.

For starters, they are short. Regardless of the version of the Bible one picks they use less than 100 words in total to deliver the entire blueprint on how to live your life. By anyone’s idea of efficient word-count that is off the charts. I’ve had shopping lists with more words on them than that. There is a behavioural science heuristic called the Concreteness Effect that proves this. Simple, short, concrete nouns and words are processed faster by the brain than more complex equivalents. I think that written briefs should ideally never be more than a page, and if possible not in a traditional written format at all. A short presentation deck is best – written to inspire rather than inform. By all means, have a written brief to share at the end as a summary, but don’t ever read it out in the briefing. The brevity of the Ten Commandments is amazing – Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal – and we’re left with zero ambiguity as to what we are meant to think, feel or do.

n.b. One of my theories BTW on why the Ten Commandments are so short is that they had to be written on MASSIVE STONE TABLETS. Now if you had to carry your instructions into the briefing written on two colossal bits of granite I suspect you might think a bit harder about your economy of words too. It’s a very early example of the media fitting the message and vice versa.

Secondly, as a set of instructions, they are really simple. This is also a behavioural principle called Chunking. Making things bite-sized makes them much easier to process and remember. When writing your briefs make sure they are simple and clear. If you look up the word “brief” in the dictionary it’ll give you a big clue – concise, clear, succinct!

Next, the Commandments work because there aren’t many of them. They are also a good example of the Scarcity Effect – there are only ten of them, to live your ENTIRE LIFE BY! Things become more attractive & valuable to us when we believe they are scarce (“Only Ten Commandments, get them before they’re gone!”) Be ruthless about what you leave out of your brief or briefing – as the old saying goes, good strategy is sacrifice.

Another behavioural principle that makes them so effective is the Labour Illusion. There are ten commandments, but it does suggest that perhaps their author had sifted and selected these ten from a longer of list of potentials.

We often believe the messenger more than we believe the message

Kevin Chesters

And if you still don’t believe me, the final one is a bit more obvious, the Messenger Effect. We often believe the messenger more than we believe the message – in this case God wrote them, so that’s a cheat. But you get my point. Make sure you are an effective messenger for the message – think about the theatre of your briefing as much as the content of your brief. It matters. I suspect that Moses popping down the mountain carting two massive tablets was a pretty effective delivery mechanism.

Finally, I think that they work really well simply because they are a list. Lists are a brilliant example of all those behavioural principles put together. Short, clear, selective. Lists work really well for strategy and for briefings. I love the thought that the Ten Commandments are the earliest form of the Buzzfeed List. A simple ten-point checklist for how to live one’s life, regardless of whether or not one has a faith. I personally don’t but I can appreciate the clarity, the brevity and coherence of the list. We all love a list.

I’m sending all my planners on a creative writing course in the next few weeks. I’m not sure they’ll come up with anything as great as “Do not let thyself lust after thy neighbour’s wife” but I live in hope.

This piece was by Kevin Chesters. Follow him @hairychesters.

I’m not sure they’ll come up with anything as great as “Do not let thyself lust after thy neighbour’s wife” but I live in hope.

Kevin Chesters

Design Thinking 3.0

Design Thinking 3.0

Olivier Auroy decodes the four founding
principles of Design Thinking

Born in the 1980s, is Design Thinking a victim of its own success? Have a look at the picture below. On the left side (1), a remote control designed by an engineer. He will claim his product is the output of a Design Thinking process. In the middle (2), this is what a millennial does with our friend engineer’s creation: he tapes the useless. On the right side (3), this is what Apple calls Design Thinking.

Design Thinking combines usefulness with pleasure. God gave us a fine example when he came up with the buttocks, which allow one to sit down but is also quite pleasurable to look at. Pablo Picasso, for his part, mocked the Creator: "God invented the giraffe, the elephant, the ostrich... He has no real style, he just goes on trying other things".

That's Design Thinking to a T, we fumble and stumble around until it works. Steve Jobs, a god in his own right, kept saying: "Design is not just what it looks like, it is how it works".

Design is not just what it looks like, it is how it works

Steve Jobs

Yes, but here we are: for several decades now, we have relied on the same old tried-and-true formulae. So much so that I wonder if the term Design Thinking itself is not overused. Journalists, politicians and sorcerer's apprentices are good at making the old new again. They think renaming means re-inventing. Gilles Deleuze was lucid: "Philosophy is the art of forming, inventing and fabricating concepts." Is Design Thinking nothing more than skilful recycling?

To take stock of the situation, I offer to deconstruct the four founding principles of Design Thinking by asking the following question: what's so new about it? Let us recall the four pillars of Design Thinking: Understand by asking people; Explore by finding patterns; Prototype by making tangible; Evaluate by always iterating.

1. Understand by asking people

What's so new about it? People have always been asked what they think of a product. Qualitative groups, quantitative groups, focus groups, opinion polls, mystery shoppers and much more: the brain of the housewife was meticulously scanned for decades. The problem? All we did was ask the consumer what he thought of the product. We never bothered to ask him what he truly needed. The functionalities of the product were too often the starting point, the real expectations of the individual mostly came second.

Mythical entrepreneurs have made things worse. How many times have I heard Ford's quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have told me faster horses". How many times have I heard Steve Jobs (him again) admit that he didn't care much about the quidam's opinion. Jobs' genius is to have identified latent expectations, needs within us we were not aware of. He turned it into an ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, iStore...), and a business. Amazon is going down the same path by inventing tomorrow's distribution processes.

So what does Design Thinking bring to the table? An angle which is not only "consumer centric" but also "user centric". The original intention was to imagine what the ideal customer experience could be. As Alberto Brea brilliantly explained, the rise of the new heavyweight champions of our global economy is not only the result of a great technological (digital) leap forward. Airbnb offered a solution to a real expectation: having more options to find accommodations at a cheaper price; Netflix provides us with a variety of entertainment, with maximum comfort.

2. Explore by finding patterns

Once again, where's the new in there? Human beings have always strived to be creative. People always represent Design Thinking witch pictures of brainstorming sessions and boards chock-full of sticky notes. Could it be that Design Thinking is the absolute king of collaborative creativity, the golden rule for generating ideas?

Wrong, Design Thinking is even better than that. More than a technique to bolster creativity, it is first and foremost a state of mind. You don't stop thinking when you leave the meeting room behind. Thinking is a permanent process. At GAFA and NATU employees write on the walls, shake up furniture, favour swarming, invite chaos in. Einstein's office was a mess and he was proud of it: "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?"

I also like the Velcro story. The inventor, Georges de Mestral, cannot fathom why customers favor American zippers over his collection of laces. He comes up with even stronger laces, until he finally understands what people like about flies: the sound that comes with zipping and unzipping. He's puzzled. He goes for a walk with his dog. Soon enough, its fur is covered with burdocks. Velcro is born. The idea did not come out of an umpteenth brainstorming session, but out of a bucolic walk.

Creativity is born from serendipity, like viagra, the result of an experiment on pulmonary arterial hypertension that caused priapism in patients.

Creativity is born from serendipity, like viagra, the result of an experiment on pulmonary arterial hypertension that caused priapism in patients. Creativity comes from boredom, as Jean-Paul Gaultier acknowledged, he whose imagination had blossomed far from Paris, in the dull Arcueil of his youth. Creativity flourishes with restraint: would the Brontë sisters have produced their masterpieces if it were not for the tyranny of their pastor of a father? Oh, I forgot, Edison was afraid of the dark...

If Design Thinking is merely a creative technique, it holds no water. If it is a state of mind which favours creativity in all its forms, it is still relevant.

But one thing matters even more: curiosity. Design thinking would never have produced a thing if it were not for curiosity. However, our schools do not push it enough. Students are quick to find the answer to the "what". They just look it up online. But what about the "why"? What school trains its students in the art of the "why"?

3. Prototype by making tangible

Coming up with prototypes, models, that's not new either. Leonardo da Vinci abused it to test his concepts and inventions.

So, what's the novelty? Generosity!

The number of tests, models and attempts is no longer limited. We're experimenting far more than ever before, emboldened by our thirst for concrete results. Consumer experience is what Design Thinking gurus are obsessed with. You have to put yourself in your own shoes, to understand all the obstacles that could hinder your final satisfaction. In this framework, the digital tool is key. It offers unprecedented speed of execution.

4. Evaluate by always iterating

Nothing new here, right? We have always moved forward step-by-step. Our entire industry runs according to a model that is now obsolete: the planning and programming model. The digital revolution has imposed a different model: we move from progress to progress, we agree to tweak things along the way, and we sail to sea knowing full well that our final destination may not be the one we had planned. My grandmother was right: "Before you get on a bike, see how far a scooter gets you, and work your way up from there."

Before you get on a bike, see how far a scooter gets you, and work your way up from there

Olivier Auroy

It is revolutionary thinking, because this approach implies the acceptance of failure. We have all heard this Mandela quote a thousand times, "either I win or I learn". It's still a great Design Thinking guideline.

There is a far more worrying prospect for companies: Design Thinking (via digital transformation) challenges the very foundations they are built on, as it challenges vertical hierarchies. Empathy must now take precedence over ego. Perfection is an illusion and a collaboration between individuals of different walks of life will yield more results than a pool of experts working behind closed doors. Harvard says so, not me.

More than Design Thinking, what companies need is a real Design Culture, i. e. the ability to structure and organize themselves in order to foster creativity and progress, wherever they come from, with complete disregard for the old rules and hierarchical considerations. They must also learn to evolve quickly, to improve – to update themselves like smartphone apps. Darwin said it best, "It's not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change." We most certainly live in a time of permanent change.

How often do you apply design thinking to your work?

Often

Sometimes

Rarely

Never

Conclusions:

Design Thinking is dead, long live Design Culture. Design Culture is driven by digital transformation. Design Thinking is not the panacea for creativity. Creativity will always have this one driving force: curiosity.